Moonlit Ride
by KatLeePT
Summary: Their date might not have worked out the way they wanted, but it was certainly one they'd remember for the rest of their lives. FrankenWolf.


She had to hand it to him, Ruby thought as she arrived at the crest of Storybrooke's woods. She had received many pickup lines and howls in her time, but nothing quite as simple, or as sweet, as the card he's left for her to find after eating his lunch, as usual, at Granny's. She didn't know where he'd found it . It couldn't have been easy to come by one as, with all the things she'd seen over her lifetime thus far with wolves, she'd never before seen a card with two wolves gently touching noses.

His message had been as unique as his card for the doctor had written in his nearly inelligble cursive handwriting, "From one monster to another, would you care to join me for a moonlit ride?" Ruby grinned just thinking about his message. His presentation might have been unique, but he hadn't bothered to hide his true intentions. _Well, Doctor Whale,_ she thought, finding herself alone on the path, _I'm here for our 'ride'._

She knew this date was going to be fun. She had all sorts of dates before from her memorable and steamy encounters with Snow White back in the Enchanted Forest to her latest blind, and almost disastrous, date with Anton the Giant, but she'd never had a doctor before. She knew the girls of this world would be thrilled to be dating a doctor for his profession alone, but for Ruby, the excitement ran much deeper. Victor was right: They were monsters of a kindred spirit, and she'd been imagining for a while now just how much trouble, and thereby fun, two like them could create together.

She hadn't been waiting long when she heard the sharp whinnying of horses. The animals were crying with fright, and she knew immediately why. She lifted her hood over her face and, ducking deep within the shadow it made, rounded a nearby tree. She couldn't do anything about her scent, but if they at least did not see her, perhaps they would calm down somewhat for their riders.

She wasn't prepared to see her date trying his best to lead the startled animals to the forest. "WHALE," she called, trying to warn him that wolves and horses did not mix, but the sound of her voice made the horses finish going beserker. The riderless one broke her lead and shot off in the opposite direction. The male took only a moment longer to throw the good doctor from his back and then split out after his partner.

"VICTOR!" Ruby raced to his side and was kneeling beside him before he could finish struggling to a sitting position. She touched his shoulder with gentle care. "Are you all right?"

"Nothing's broken," he told her, his face coloring a little.

"Are you sure?"

"Quite, Ruby. I am a doctor, after all, you know."

His teasing reminder relaxed her concerns, and she leaned back on the heels of her boots, giving her room to gather himself more completely. "You know," she said with a wink, "most girls would be thrilled peachless to be dating a doctor."

"And you're not?"

"I didn't say that." Her eyes twinkled as she helped him to his feet. "But my interests are considerably more . . . "

"Predatorial?" he guessed, and she could hear his heart beating with hope.

"Something like that." Her smile was true. "Let's just say I'm much more interested in the man behind the doctorial title."

"I was hoping," he started to admit, but his next words were drowned out by the shot of a gun and a whine from a voice that was too familiar to Ruby for comfort.

Her head jerked up. Her eyes flashed yellow, and she was running, her red cloak left behind in her wake, before Whale could even ask what was happening. She knew both sounds, and her heart pounded as she ran. One of Storybrooke's pack was dead. That was tragedy enough, but worse yet was there was a hunter in their woods.

The true beast of a man was in the process of bagging his illegal prey when she caught up to him. He'd made the mistake of laying his gun on the ground while he collected his bounty, and she wasted no time in flying straight into him. As her jaws latched onto his thigh, her back paws expertly kicked the gun out of his reach. It fired again when she kicked it, but what it hit, she neither knew nor had time to investigate.

The screaming man beat at her with his hands. She released his leg and snatched one of those hands with her mouth instead, thinking that, if she could simply chew off the filthy human's hand, he might never be able to weild his gun and hurt another animal again.

"RUBY!" At first, she was distracted by the voice calling to her, but laying her ears against the top of her grey head, she started to drown Whale out. The hunter was swinging at her with his free hand and wildly jerking knees. She bit down harder. The taste of his blood running between her clenching fangs and down her throat was sweet. She wanted more.

One heck of a commotion broke loose somewhere in the forest behind her. Metal ground against metal, and something huge crashed against something. She didn't look up and barely noticed that the hunter was now screaming about his truck. One of his knees, however, managed at least to connect with her midsection. She fell off of her prey and was about to pounce back on him when he pulled a knife.

Her lips pulled away from her mouth as she warned him one final time with a low, guttural growl. A gunshot kept her from following up with her promise, however. Both wolf and hunter looked at the man now holding the former's gun. Keeping one eye on the murderer, Whale looked at Ruby with his other. "This isn't you," he told her. She whined. "I know he killed your friend, but you don't want Storybrooke rallying against what they think is a wolf threat."

She whined again, but this time, Whale turned his full attention to the hunter. "But you, you'd better get out of here before I unleash her. We can bury your body where no one will ever find it."

Grabbing for words, the hunter stuttered but thought better of it when Ruby growled once more and ran for where he'd left his vehicle. Ruby started to give chase, but Whale swiftly dropped her cloak over her. Her transformation slowed her just enough to give the hunter time to really begin his escape. "My truck!" were the first words her human ears heard.

"What did you do?" she asked curiously, looking up at the doctor who was still holding on to the gun, just in case he needed it.

The moonlight filtering through the trees played over his features as he smiled. "It'll be harder for him to come back into the forest without transportation." Growing serious, he continued, "And when he comes to the ER later to get his hand stitched, I'll know who he is and turn his information in to Sheriff Swan. Wolf hunting is illegal in this forest."

"For a damn good reason," Red muttered, glancing sorrowfully over at the large, canvas bag that she knew held her friend's body. "She always tried her best to avoid human contact. She wouldn't even come around me when I was human."

Whale laid the gun on the ground and reached out to his date. "I know. There is no worse monster than the human being."

"Or human bean, as Anton's called them."

Whale laughed. "It sounds like a fitting name."

"I wish it was. Beans can not hurt any one."

"I don't know. Magical beans can cause a lot of damage."

"Not like a human with a gun."

He rubbed her arms. "I know." She looked into his eyes, and he was awed by the depth of sorrow and other emotions he witnessed in her large, deep orbs that fit so well in with the night. "I'm sorry, Ruby."

"I know. So am I. But that isn't going to bring her back."

"No," he agreed, sensing she wanted to be alone. "Why don't you bury your friend while I go make sure no one can ever use this gun again?"

She smiled at him in gracious thanks. "Thank you."

He nodded and slipped away into the shadows, leaving her alone to do the task she'd had to do too many times. The human versus wolves plight had been bad enough back in the Enchanted Forest, but no one had ever shot a wolf here in Storybrooke before. Both vowed silently that it wouldn't happen again as they worked on their tasks, she on burying her friend and he in dismantling the gun and scattering its parts throughout the forest and shore. He thought of throwing part of it into the water but knew Ruby wouldn't like that and so held back from spoiling the ocean life with the human killer's metal weapon.

She found him later on the shore, sitting and watching the tide in the light of the moon. He looked up as she sank down onto the sand beside him. He touched her hand after a time of silence; she turned her palm up and interlaced her fingers with his. Neither knew how long they sat there in silence nor cared to track the time. Their date wasn't going at all according to either's plan, but it was enough for them, for now, just to be together.

After a long while, she looked at him. Moonbeams caught in her dark orbs, and he could see she'd been crying. He smiled sadly at her, wishing he could take away her pain but knowing such was impossible for him. Science was great, medicine even better, but all of man's knowledge couldn't erase the pain that man himself could cause.

"So since when did you start riding horses?"

"Some time after I took your advice," he answered, thankful she'd given him something else to discuss. "I should have realized they would smell the wolf on you. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. When you asked for a ride, I wasn't think you meant on horseback."

He grinned, but his shyness crept over his face. "I doubt I could ever be that bold with a lady."

She tugged on his hand, pulling him up with her as she stood. "What about a lady who's also a wolf herself?" Her other hand took his as they stood together on the moonlit shore.

He started to answer her when his cell phone buzzed. "I . . . " It rang again, and he knew it was the hospital and some one was hurt badly and needed his expertise. "I . . . "

On the third ring, she dropped his hands and took a step back. "Go ahead," she told him, sensing the urgency of the call. "Answer it."

He did, listened to the nurse rambling, and finally said with a sigh, "I'll be there in twenty." Hanging up, he told her, "The Charmings have been attacked. They need my help."

Leave it to Snow, she thought, to interrupt the first meaningful date she'd had with some one besides her in a very long time. But, still, her friends needed her, and over that, she could not be angry. "Would it help if you can get there in ten?"

"Time is of the essence," he admitted, "but we're a long way from town and it's not as if I came with my vehicle."

"You could use the hunter's."

She obviously didn't mean her suggestion, but he took the moment to advise her nonetheless, "No one is going to be using the truck ever again."

Her eyes twinkled. "I'd like to see what you did to it, but that'll have to wait." She slipped out of her cloak, and he stood, transfixed, as she began to change. She handed him her cloak just before her human hands became paws.

"Are . . . Are you sure?"

"Do you want your ride or not, Doctor?" Her human mouth was the last part, this time, to transform into the wolf's body.

"On one condition," he told her. "We meet again when this latest crisis is over. I promise not to bring any horses this time."

She nodded her head in agreement as she climbed onto her massive back, but even as she took off running for town and their friends, she couldn't help thinking that, despite its spoiled atmosphere and the tragedy that happened this night, this was one first date she was never going to forget and quite possibly the best connection she'd ever made other than the one she shared with Snow. The moonlight running over her lupine body and his fingers in her thick, dark fur felt good, but she pushed her mind to focus. They had to help her friends, and until this latest problem was over, that was all that mattered. Afterward, however, she might just give a certain doctor another kind of ride entirely. She howled as she ran, and after a moment, his voice joined with hers. Both grinned. Yes, indeed, this was one date they'd remember for the rest of their lives.

The End


End file.
